Powering our future without sacrificing our lands
||| FROM EVA SCHULTE for FRIENDS OF THE SAN JUANS |||
The Town of Friday Harbor approved an important proposal from the Port of Friday Harbor last week for a Marina Solar Parking Canopy project, which has the dual benefit of soaking up sun in the summer and sheltering us from rain in the winter.
We need smart, effective strategies for advancing renewable energy in San Juan County. This proposal recognizes the need for more renewable energy and is an example of it being done right. The proposed solar array metal-frame parking canopy over an existing paved parking lot minimizes impacts on our natural environment and plans for energy needs with foresight.
“We appreciate the thoughtful support from Friends of the San Juans. Projects like this succeed because our community shares a commitment to protecting natural spaces while advancing smart, well‑placed renewable energy.” -Kyle Gropp, Port of Friday Harbor.
By identifying already-developed, impervious surfaces and built environment for its siting, this project advances clean energy without sacrificing trees, wetlands, and soil health. Much of the shoreline in Friday Harbor has already been developed. Prioritizing urban growth areas, such as Friday Harbor and commercial zones, for solar development protects our limited natural lands while making practical use of space that would otherwise be underutilized. There are many large rooftops, public buildings, and infrastructure that can thoughtfully integrate commercial solar arrays while preserving the integrity of our local environment.
Projects like this warrant priority siting, and we applaud the Port’s leadership and the Town’s support of strategic renewable energy development. We hope to see more initiatives follow this model, which lessens the burden on increasingly disappearing farmland, forests, and biodiversity.
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This is a move in the right direction; the first step in siting triage in which Friends of the San Juans can be a constructive partner.
Good for F.H. There’s a cleared flat spot owned by and sitting alongside the airport on Orcas. It must be 20 acres of… nothing. Instead of another 30 private hangers there perhaps the county could purchase the land and we could develop an Orcas specific solar station there instead.
Let me add my voice to this chorus. There must be acres and acres of such sites in SJC, where photovoltaic arrays will complement existing activities. Adding batteries in urban, developed areas might be a problem, but such projects could simply feed power to the grid, and the excess power could be stored elsewhere.
Somehow I missed this option while completing the recent OPALCO survey. How could this be?
That option being – “encourage large scale solar implementation on existing and new commercial/government structures via aggressive incentives which promote a reasonable ROI for the owner” Is this the entire solution? No, but it sure seems a good start.
Seems like a good move. Here on Orcas, check out the satellite map of Eastsound and take a look at all the unused space on top of the flat roofs of existing commercial buildings. These roofs are already free of shade from nearby trees and buildings (due to the relatively homogenous height of buildings in the UGA). Parking lots also provide large unshaded areas for solar canopies.
Commercial building owners should step up and help with this purported energy crunch because they are some of the largest energy consumers. Clear cutting existing forests on outer islands just to produce a tiny fraction of the county’s energy needs does not make sense. Why kill a forest on Decatur to keep beer and frozen pizzas beer cold at Island Market? The GMA says to build density in urban areas, this should apply to energy production too.
I believe the common perception that SJC’s (OPALCO’s) plans for future power production here being one that continues to be a part of the mainland’s growing electrical grid problems, is not one that is shared by all… or even many. It seemingly lacks “vision,” and I feel is only being reactionary to the moment, (with one quick fix after the other). Given our prognosis and the status quo prescription that we are presented with in order to deal with the problem, I believe that continuing to follow the current path represents imminent failure.
In even a not-so-perfect-world I envision a healthy community as being one that creates most of its own electrical power. “Resilience, adaptation, stability, and self-reliance” are the words that come to mind… let’s walk our talk. I believe that SJC / OPALCO should be adapting their current practices to help islanders (all islanders) put solar panels on their roofs and battery storage on the premise for all businesses and all homes… with the power staying local and any extra power feeding back into a “county specific grid.” Doing so could, over time, lessen our dependency on the availability of the mainland’s electrical supply. and we would be, by and large, removing ourselves from the future lose-lose scenario mandated by current state and local laws and being offered by our mainland energy host. Monument? Yes! But, the writing is on the wall.
I know, I know, “This isn’t feasible.” “This isn’t possible.” This will never happen.” “We can’t afford it.” Are you kidding? Quit viewing this through the lens you grew up with, and start looking at it in a creative, out of the box fashion. Are you not viewing the currently offered, status quo alternative? “The writing is on the wall”
My girlfriend operates 100% on the solar power she has generated at her house on one of the outer islands for over 50 years… (as you did too during your time on Waldron Bill), and as all outer-islanders do. Does her solar unit power everything all the time? No. Sometimes, though rarely, when she needs to charge the house batteries in the winter time, or if she has a major carpentry project going on and needs 220V for a machine, she will turn on a generator in order to do so. This type of lifestyle IS a form of downsizing, of deescalating, of slowing down and living within ones means. You see people in such environments living more within their primary needs, and you see a healthier natural environment around them as a result. They are, I might add, in some ways healthier and wealthier than the rest of us by far.
The “Marina Solar Parking Canopy project” is, I believe, as Bill states, “…a move in the right direction; the first step in siting triage in which Friends of the San Juans can be a constructive partner.” I believe that between the Friends, the Land Bank, the SJ Preservation Trust, the county, and if need be, a few wealthy backers… that this is, indeed, only the first step, and that we fail ourselves if we do not continue in this footstep. I believe SJC’s mantra should be, “Solar panels on every roof.”
I mean, if we can raise a couple of million dollars to purchase Turtleback Mountain for preservation, why can’t we embark upon a crusade to distance ourselves from that which, by all count, appears to be heading our way?
So glad to hear this! I echo the previous comments. There is great potential throughout SJC for solar panels on existing structures of various kinds.
These are the kinds of solar solutions OPALCO seems unwilling to consider. Good for Port of Friday Harbor for finding a way to use solar in a beneficial way. By the numbers, the output isn’t huge but that isn’t really the point. They have been willing to explore an option that does not harm and actually has benefits.
I live on Decatur. We are fighting against OPALCO’s solar expansion but I want to be clear that I am in favor of solar. What OPALCO seeks on Decatur results in environmental destruction far greater than the 1% benefit to the co-op.
I KNOW that no one in San Juan county wants to hear that sometimes solar can be problematic. Please contrast this smart & thoughtful solution in Friday Harbor with the planned industrial array on Decatur that will rip out a beautiful forest in the heart of our island.